Developing a specific piece of work to publication standard is the central aim of the award and applicants must demonstrate genuine potential for publication.

The writer will be offered nine months of mentoring arranged by Scottish Book Trust. Additionally, they will receive a two week retreat to focus on their writing. This will be arranged in March 2018. The successful writer will also receive a £2000 bursary.

The award is open to poets, novelists, authors of narrative non-fiction and children’s authors who are 40 years of age or above and are based in Scotland.

If you have already applied for a New Writers Award, you are welcome to apply for the Next Chapter Award. However, you can only receive one award. If you are selected for more than one award, you will be asked to choose which programme best suits your needs.

Students are not eligible for this opportunity. Writers who are currently in receipt of Creative Scotland funding or taking part in another Writer Development programme or registered on the Live Literature Database are not eligible to apply.

The deadline for applications is Wednesday 27 September 2017 (midday).

If you have any queries about the Next Chapter Award 2018 or you are not able to apply online, please email applications@scottishbooktrust.com.

Eligibility criteria and details of how to apply can be found here